Negativity

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 1:21).

Why are people so negative and pessimistic so much of the time? It’s because, deep down, they are afraid. Negativity comes from fear. Pessimism arises from fear that things will never get better. Discouragement results from fear that you will fail. When the things that we fear make us feel helpless, we often become angry, sometimes even violent; other times, feeling powerless prompts us to flee from what is making us afraid, trying to hide from it somehow. Fear gives rise to all sorts of negative attitudes and behaviors.

Fear can suck all joy out of life. How can you enjoy life when everyone around you is constantly complaining about how unhappy they are? How can you enjoy life when you’re expending most of your mental energy on worrying? If you let pessimism filter your view of life, it will eventually blind you from seeing opportunities, leaving you feeling as if there is no way out, no way to change things. When this happens the result is despair, the mind-numbing belief that there is no longer any hope.

Fear is a very old problem—as old a problem as sin. All the way back in the Garden of Eden, when the first sins were committed, our ancestors immediately hid themselves. Why? Because they were afraid--afraid of what was going to happen when God found out what they had done. Yet God responded to their fear in an unexpected way. Yes, He was truly angry. Yes, Adam and Eve were punished for disobeying Him; their lives would now be maintained only at the cost of hard, sweaty labor, and would eventually end in the grave. But their Lord did not strike them down for their sins, as they deserved—we are told that Adam lived for 930 years before he died. Instead, the heavenly Father gave them a promise to cling to—the promise of a descendant, a Son of Man sent from heaven to destroy the power of sin and free mankind from the suffering that evil brings. That Son of Man sent from heaven was Jesus, who came to earth to free us from fear by suffering in our place God’s punishment for our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can be forgiven--we need no longer fear God’s displeasure. In fact, God the Father adopts everyone who believes in Jesus and turns away from the love of sinning. When the Lord of all creation promises to care for us as His own dear children, what can we possibly be afraid of? How can anything cause us to worry? With God’s love filling our hearts, there is no reason to be negative or pessimistic, no reason to ever complain.